When my youngest brother moved out of the home, my mom and dad went through a bit of “empty nest” and brought home the cutest miniature schnauzer. I’m not a dog person, but Toby is genuinely a sweet dog…who was a bit lonely until, a few weeks later, my mom brought him home a sister. Abby is a cocker spaniel (or, as my father refers to her, a total blond). As sweet as Toby is, Abby is a crazy lady with too much energy and an inability to *not* pee when she gets excited! They’re quite the pair…especially now, as they enter their very senior years. Sweet Toby has gone blind, and Abby is now deaf. They’re still quite the pair, even now.

For Christmas, we usually buy a little something for them…in their younger years, it was a silly pink dress for Abby (which she promptly shook off) or a new toy for Toby (which he promptly chewed to bits). Now, it’s more likely to be vitamin enriched doggy muffins that are soft on their gums and full of fiber. Getting old is grand, though, as they are cared for just as much now as they day they came home!

When it came to their treats, I wanted to make them something special…especially as this might be their last Christmas with us. I received several yards of this bone fabric from a neighbor, and (I admit) it’s sat in my drawer for a very (very…very…very) long time. As I tend to make more “story” quilts, as my mom likes to say, I never had a use for these bones-on-brown or bones-on-tan fabrics. So, I took a break from quilts and – genuinely – had a fun afternoon sewing up something completely different!

While Abby is too old for costumes, I created a little Santa hat bag for her out of the fabrics. It has a draw-string top that can be tied once her – and Toby’s – senior treats are inside. I added two of my son’s beads so the draw strings wouldn’t get lost inside. The soft white fluffy fabric was super easy to work with – though my sewing room looked like a snow storm of fluff had gone through after I finished all the cutting! I tapered the fabric, as opposed to making a cylinder, so that the hat would not have a ton of gathered fabric at the top. It took a few tries to get the shape exactly as I wanted, but am happy with the final result.

This little sewing project was a nice break from the quilting…I’ve been sewing up so many projects for friends and family, and coming up with this fun little project was just that – fun. The Santa hat was finished, but I wasn’t – so I ended up making a pumpkin with an open top, perfect for more soft biscuits – though this one will be for my sister’s two dogs next Halloween. Fingers crossed we can celebrate with them!

Hi, y’all! I’m excited to share something that’s really special to us and our family. A few months ago, Elayne of Annunciation Design reached out and shared that she was looking for a few other artisans who were interested in creating a custom family mission statement. Now, my background is in the corporate world, and I absolutely grasp the importance of a company having a mission and a vision. Without one, the company has no clear direction of who they are, what is important to them, and what they want to be. When it came to my family, though, I hadn’t thought about it…we just, well, “were”. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized the importance of what Elayne was driving towards – our family, just like the corporation, needed the clear picture of who and what we were.

At first, it was a daunting task – we weren’t sure where to start in coming up with what it was that perfectly fit our family! Elayne provided some thoughts, and we ran with them, massaging and making them our own. Working with my husband and son was honestly such a unique experience as we, together, talked through what is most important to our family. Each of us had a fair say in what was included, and the final compilation is a beautiful representation of *us*.

Elayne was wonderful to work with. She was always available to answer any questions we had, and was patient with us as we – I suspect! – took longer than most to really identify what was important to us. As part of the design process, she also provided two rounds (beyond the initial concept) of design changes to ensure that the final product truly was one we would cherish. We wanted it to fit in with our coastal decor, and she did a great job…the picture, in its rustic frame with light blue background, sits perfectly between two sail boats on our wall.

I’m absolutely loving how our family mission statement turned out. It’s everything that is important to us. When it came time to finding a home for it, we decided to hang it in our breakfast nook. It’s now one of the first things we see as we start our day, and I often find myself reading through it every time it catches my eye. I’m purchasing one for my sister and her family, and am already looking forward to seeing how hers turns out – and what they feel is the mission of their family. This was such a beautiful gift! If you were to write your family mission, what would it say?

Can you believe it’s been a year already? Today – September 25th – is Family Day. Sponsored each year by CASA Family Day, it’s a day focused on (you guessed it!) the family. Their goal, all year, is to bring families closer together and increase parent/child involvement. While they have year-round activities, one of their largest events is a focused event each September (click here for events in 2013, 2015, and 2016).

Check out their website to see how Family Day’s partners and sponsors are celebrating across the country. You’ll be in good company by joining 15 State First Ladies, 11 Major League baseball teams, The Coca-Cola Company, Quest Diagnostics, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), Fathers Incorporated, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), National Military Family Association, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, Prevent Child Abuse America, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), The Family Dinner Project, the Kids Time, and The Moyer Foundation, and more!

Remember, though, that every day can be Family Day! Here are some great ways to stay engaged in your children’s lives…each is so simple, yet so important to raising a child that grows to be a healthy, active, and drug-free adult:

be there: Get involved in your children’s lives and activities

open the lines of communication and keep them wide open

set a good example: Actions are more persuasive than words

set rules and enforce them with consequences if your children fail to follow them

monitor your children’s whereabouts

maintain family rituals such as eating dinner together

incorporate religious and spiritual practices into family life

get Dad engaged—and keep him engaged

engage the larger community

get to know your kid’s friends and their parents

I’m really looking forward to seeing all your #myfamilyselfie photos! We’ll be sharing ours, too. Hugs and prayers from our family to yours!

It’s time for the Annual Blogger’s Quilt Festival! So excited to join in again this year. Last year, it was slightly different, as there was voting. This year, it’s “back to basics” – which means we just get to look at and oggle over every quilt entered. They’re all so lovely!

My entry into the festival is my Mary and Jesus quilt…but I bet you already figured that out, didn’t you? It’s my favorite quilt that I’ve made this year! I absolutely loved designing this from concept through final quilt, and seeing how it turned into something *real*.

In designing the quilt, I wanted that beautiful moment of a mother gazing down at her child…perhaps, even for the first time. The baby is sound asleep, snuggled into his mother’s arms. Mom looks down, and – eyes closed – offers a prayer of thanks for this beautiful little blessing.

Thank you for stopping by from the festival and learning a bit more about my quilt!

I’m so excited to be part of an amazing group of creative Catholic women! Each week, we share our handmade items in a pop-up shop on Instagram. This week, we’re doing something different – we’ve invited all our talented friends to join us, and 100% of our profits are going to Adore ministries. Adore Ministries is an on-the-ground disaster recovery group; they were there to help with the aftermath of Katrina, and they’re already onsite helping recovery to begin after Harvey.

Hi there, and welcome to the Piece and Quilt with PreCuts! I’m excited to be a stop on Christa Watson, of Christa Quilts, launch tour for her new book Piece and Quilt with PreCuts. This lovely book includes great tips and tricks for piecing gorgeous precut fabrics (and fabric scraps) in eleven different patterns. Once the quilt top is done, choose from one of the 18 different machine-quilting motifs to finish off your quilt!

I’ve been a fan of Christa’s for a while, and have learned a ton from her Craftsy classes. The idea of working on a quilt made entirely from precuts was appealing to me, as I haven’t made one in a *very* long time! The designs in the book were lovely, yet the one that I liked most was dots and dash – it’s simple design seemed to lend itself most to keeping the larger sections of fabrics in tact so the prints on the fabric could really shine through.

You guys, Christa’s pattern was so well written and easy to follow! In what felt like no time at all, I had this lovely quilt top made:

I chose to use white as the background, as it played up the whites already in the prints. It also made a brilliant background and let those rainy day colors pop!

I’m not sure yet how I want to quilt this, which is why it’s still in the quilt top stage. I’m leaning towards using these pink and purple Blendable threads from Sulky; they would make such a lovely contrast against the white. Doesn’t it look like it was made for the Rainy Day fabrics??

Thanks for stopping by to see my Dot and Dash quilt top. Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog to see their lovely quilts made from the book Piece and Quilt with PreCuts!

The Christmas in July Quilting & Sewing Pattern Bundle Sale has ended, and that means it’s time to pick some winners! Join me in congratulating the following individuals who won a gift from our sponsors:

Welcome to Christmas in July – a totally unique opportunity for quilters and sewists to share in an amazing bundle of quilt patterns, exclusive discounts, and opportunities to win made *just for you*. This sale only happens once a year and lasts for just 72 hours, and we’re inviting you to joinin the fun! Here’s what’s included*:

Want to join me? To pick up a copy of the bundle for yourself for just $25 USD,click here (sale has ended).

Be sure to share your work with the hashtag #sewchristmasinjuly as we’d love to see what you make!

*No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. To enter to win one of the prizes listed without purchasing the bundle, send an email to: [email protected] with your contact information.

Welcome to this week’s edition of TGIFF! My name is Jen, and I’m happy to host the weekly linkup this week, as well as share a few fun projects with you.

I live in southern California with my husband and young son, and I’m truly thankful for the opportunity to stay home and raise this special little man. We’re enjoying summer so much together – our days are full with time spent at the park and community pool, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I’ve been quilting for several years now, and enjoy both traditional as well as paper pieced quilting. My quilting is influenced by my faith, and I’m often inspired to make quilts that commemorate a special holiday or holy day – like Advent, Christmas, or Easter. I’m working on a second special quilt pattern for Christmas, and can’t wait to roll it out in our August newsletter! It’s a larger paper pieced pattern, and I think it might be my favorite quilt to date. I also host an every-other-month blog hop. It’s been a great way to connect with other quilters and sewists. Want to join in? Here’s more info.

My Friday share is the quilt top from the 1930’s Farmer’s Wife QAL. This QAL started two years ago, and my personal challenge was to use this adorable Saltwater fabric collection to create the blocks. Isn’t the fabric lovely? I was drawn to the soft colors, the gentle mermaid and sea horse designs, and the clean yet tender feel the fabric had. Haha – is that reading too much into a fabric line? I sure hope not. It was so hard to cut into the first piece!

When it came to creating the blocks, I fussy cut every. single. one. From templates, no less! This meant that each block took, on average, two hours to make. Yikes. All in all, I created 30 different blocks – you can see most of them here. Here are a few of my favorites!

To sash, I used a blue wave print which added a new color into the quilt, yet complimented the overall under the sea theme. Here’s how the quilt top is looking so far! (…please ignore the wrinkles in this quilt top – I just finished adding the sashing, and it hasn’t had it’s final press yet!)

Happy Farmer’s Tuesday! This week’s block was such a feminine block to me…it looked like a beautiful flower, so I played up the shape of the flower by using deep pinks for the center and greens surrounding it. Yes, I grant you the greens have waves in them, but this is, after all, a mermaid quilt! This block made me think of our honeymoon; we spent a lovely week together on Kauai, surrounded by the brilliantly colored flora…much like the colors in this block.